Girl Scouts to sell cookies online, but not locally

CHILLICOTHE – The Girl Scouts of the USA recently unveiled plans to allow the sale of its cookies online, but the initiative will not be implemented locally this season, officials said Wednesday.

The program, known as Digital Cookie, will allow some customers to buy Girl Scout cookies through personalized websites. It also allows in-person orders using a mobile credit card application.

The initiative won’t be used this season in any of the 30 counties encompassing the Girl Scouts Ohio’s Heartland Council, including Ross and Pike. Kristy Warren, assistant vice president of marketing and communications of the area council, said Wednesday there have been many phone calls from the public about the initiative, which she noted “is just a pilot program this year.”

Nearly 90 councils across the country are participating in Digital Cookie. The only local council participating is the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio, but Warren said the new initiative is “simply phase one of what will become a much broader and robust program.”

Girls from the Heartland Council will still be participating in traditional booth and door-to-door sales. A cookie request form can be filled out at www.gsoh.org starting Jan. 10, while cookies will be in-hand starting Feb. 12.

The council plans to evaluate the Digital Cookie program at the end of the season and will make a decision about whether to implement it for the 2015-16 season.

“We will actually jump on the Digital Cookie bandwagon next year,” Warren said.

Two new cookies, Rah-Rah Raisins and gluten-free Toffee-Tastic, will be introduced this year, she said. The organization also will be celebrating the 40th birthday of the Samoa cookie during this year’s sale.